Last updated: October 26, 2009

English Translation (ESV)

¹God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” ²So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. ³Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” ⁴So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

⁵And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. ⁶And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, ⁷and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. ⁸And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.

⁹God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. ¹⁰And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. ¹¹And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. ¹²The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” ¹³Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. ¹⁴And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. ¹⁵So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

¹⁶Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. ¹⁷And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for you have another son.” ¹⁸And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. ¹⁹So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), ²⁰and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. ²¹Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

²²While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it.

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. ²³The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. ²⁴The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁵The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant: Dan and Naphtali. ²⁶The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

²⁷And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. ²⁸Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. ²⁹And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Notes

1 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

This verse recalls earlier episodes in the Jacob cycle (Genesis 27-28). Jacob is the first patriarch to be commanded by God to build an altar.

2-3 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”

“Jacob vowed at Bethel that if he returned from his exile safe and sound, ‘the LORD shall be my God.’ Hence, before embarking on the pilgrimage to that city, he makes formal renunciation of ‘alien gods.’ For the first time in the Bible, there now appears a recognition of tension between the religion of Israel and that of its neighbors.”¹ Jacob’s family purifies themselves both inwardly and outwardly.

4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

The family members respond as requested, putting away their foreign gods and also their earrings. The significance of this last point is elusive. On two later occasions, earrings were used to make objects of idolatrous worship, the golden calf and an ephod (Exod 32:2-4; Judg 8:24-27). It could be that burying the earrings along with the foreign gods expressed their complete determination to dispose of the idols and also any material that could be used to replace them. A comparison with Num 31:48-54 suggests a quite different possibility. After the battle with the Midianites, the Israelites had to purify themselves (Num 31:19-20). Part of their purification process included donating to the sanctuary booty consisting of “articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD” (Num 31:50). This suggests that the rings removed by Jacob’s sons may well have been part of the booty captured by them from the Shechemites; indeed it is possible that the outer garments and the foreign gods (gold-plated idols?) were part of the spoil (cf. Num 31:20; Josh 7:21; Deut 7:25).²

5 And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

Recall that, after the massacre at Shechem, Jacob feared he would be attacked by his neighbors (34:30).

6-7 And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother.

Based on the fact that Jacob is blessed in verse 9, we are probably to assume that Jacob fulfilled the vow he made in 28:20-22. Presumably Jacob’s altar would be used for sacrifices that constitute the tithe of possessions that he promised to give to God. The “House of El” (Bethel) now becomes “El of the House of El” (El-Bethel).

8 And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.

It is strange that the death of Rebekah’s nurse is mentioned while the death of Rebekah herself is not mentioned. Perhaps we are to understand that Rebekah died while Jacob was in Paddan-aram. If so, she never saw her favorite son again (27:45). We are also left to wonder how Rebekah’s nurse came to be in Jacob’s company. Allon-bacuth means “oak of weeping.” “With the purging of idolatry and the arrival at Bethel, the contacts with Mesopotamia, maintained by each of the patriarchs, are finally and decisively severed.”³

9 God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him.

The word “again” alludes to the theophany during Jacob’s first visit to Bethel (28:10-22). The mention of Paddan-aram emphasizes the successful return to the promised land.

10 And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel.

Jacob’s name change is reaffirmed. That no explanation of the name Israel is given here means the narrator assumes the reader is familiar with 32:29[28] and that this is not an independent account of Jacob’s name change. “Jacob is reminded that he returns to Canaan not as Jacob but as Israel. He is not only to bury the foreign gods, but he is to bury what has become for all practical purposes a foreign nature – a Jacob nature. He who earlier instructed the people to change their garments must live up to his own change of name.”⁴ “The significance of the new name emerges from the succeeding blessing, which is national in scope and consists of the promise of fertility, nationhood, kingship, and territory. Jacob, by becoming also Israel, is the true heir to the Abrahamic promises, the one through whom the nation of Israel is to come into being.”⁵

11-12 And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.”

The promises here echo previous promises to the patriarchs (17:1-8; 25:23; 28:3-4, 13-15).

14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.

This act of worship also fulfills Jacob’s vow.

16 Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor.

The location of Benjamin’s birth and Rachel’s tomb are important to the narrative (vv. 16b, 19). The site provided a reference point for future generations (“to this day,” v. 20), indicating that the last son born to the patriarch occurred in the land. Even Rachel’s burial in the land demonstrated that God’s word had been truthful. Although Rachel had lived outside Canaan, her final place was permanently in the land of promise as the matriarch of Israel’s tribes, Joseph and Benjamin. “Still some distance from Ephrath” gives a vague description of the locality. The identification of Ephrath(ah) with the town of Bethlehem in Judah (v. 19; 48:7) places the tomb south of Jerusalem and north of Bethlehem (see also Ruth 4:11; 1 Chr 4:4; Mic 5:2[1]; cf. Ruth 1:2; 1 Sam 17:12; Matt 2:18). How far the tomb was from Bethel toward Bethlehem in relation to the trek by Jacob must be derived from elsewhere. The traditional site today is one mile north of Bethlehem, but we will see that this is unlikely the correct burial site. Another clue to its location is 1 Sam 10:2, placing it “at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin”; but this implies that the tomb was north of Jerusalem in Benjamin’s territory. One explanation is that “Bethlehem” is an incorrect gloss (v. 19); the Samuel passage reflects the accurate location in Benjamin, which accords with Jer 31:15 that links Rachel’s weeping with Ramah (= er-Ram [?], fives miles north of Jerusalem, Josh 18:25). Some scholars find further confirmation that the location is north of Jerusalem in Ps 132:6 that parallels “Ephrathah” and “Jaar”; this latter site is probably the town Kiriath-jearim (cf. 1 Chr 2:50), which is eight miles northwest of Jerusalem on the border of Benjamin and Judah (Josh 18:15). But Sarna explains that 1 Chr 2:50-51 shows that the two towns Bethlehem and Kiriath-jearim were connected with the common ancestor Ephrath, suggesting that the original Judahite clan Ephrath extended its influence to both locations. Since Zilzah is thought necessary by the author of 1 Sam 10:2 to locate the tomb’s vicinity, we may agree with B.K. Waltke’s suggestion that “near Rachel’s tomb” was not intended to be a precise designation. This unspecific description permits the location to be on the Benjamin-Judah border, just south of Jerusalem. Moreover, the connection scholars make between Rachel’s tomb and Ramah is taken for granted, but Jeremiah does not make this connection (31:15). Ramah is along the route taken by the exiles of Benjamin and Judah, whose deportation by the Babylonians evokes the wailing of Rachel’s children (Gen. Rab. 82.10).⁶

17 And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for you have another son.”

In her dying moments Rachel sees the fulfillment of her earlier prayer for another son (30:24).

18 And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.

Death in childbirth was, till recently, tragically common, so doubtless Rachel’s death did not have quite the same pathos for the ancient reader as it does for us. Yet it was undoubtedly tragic, for it was Rachel who had cried in desperation to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die” (30:1). It was ultimately the gift of children that killed her. And her choice of name, Ben-Oni, “son of sorrow” (cf. Ichabod in 1 Sam 4:21-22), reflects this. “Sorrow” is used of mourning for the dead in Deut 26:14; Hos 9:4. But for Jacob, the child was the son of his favorite wife, so he “called him Benjamin,” son of the right, the right-hand side being the favored lucky side (e.g., Deut 27:12-13; Matt 25:33).⁷

21 Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

The “tower of Eder” literally means “tower of the flock.” It was somewhere between Bethlehem and Hebron.

22a While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it.

It seems likely that Reuben’s motives were more than sensual. By his act, he hoped to prevent Rachel’s maid succeeding Rachel as his father’s favorite wife. Reuben resented that Jacob did not honor his mother Leah. Also, it was a claim to authority over his father (cf. Abner lying with Saul’s concubine, 2 Sam 3:7-8); as firstborn he was asserting a claim to his father’s estate. But these motives do not mitigate Scripture’s condemnation. This kind of incest is categorically condemned in Lev 18:8, and according to Lev 20:11, it warrants the death penalty and God’s curse, according to Deut 27:20. Within Genesis, it evokes the sins of Ham (9:22-27) and Lot’s daughters (19:33-38), and outside Genesis it foreshadows the ultimate act of hubris in Absalom’s rebellion, when he went into his father’s concubines (2 Sam 16:21-22). This act was a turning point in the rebellion; thereafter everything started to go wrong for Absalom. Similarly, the legal texts show that such an act, which is an offense against both filial piety and sexual propriety, cannot go unpunished. Yet here, as in chap. 34, Jacob is strangely silent. He just “heard about it” (cf. 34:5).

What does he think? By failing to report any reaction on Jacob’s part, the narrator has left a gap that no one can miss. Is Jacob as indifferent to Bilhah’s abuse as he was to Dinah’s, despite her being his dearest Rachel’s maid? Or does he care but is now incapable of exerting authority over his oldest son? These great questions are posed just before the Joseph story begins, and they are doubtless intended to color our reading of chaps. 37-50. This episode suggests that there is tension not only between Jacob and his sons descended from Leah but also between the sons of Bilhah and Rachel on the one hand and the sons of Leah on the other. Furthermore, though Reuben appears throughout the Joseph story in quite a humane light, trying to rescue Joseph and so on, this episode shows the dark side of his character. But not until 49:2-3 does Jacob show his deep anger at Reuben’s behavior, when the firstborn’s blessing turns into a curse.⁸

22b-26 Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant: Dan and Naphtali. The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

The sons of Jacob are mentioned here, arranged by mother, to prepare the way for the Joseph story with its sibling rivalries. Yet they also show that the promise of a multitude of descendants is being fulfilled (28:14; 32:12). As verses 16-19 make clear, Benjamin was not born in Paddan-aram.

27 And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.

Isaac has apparently moved from Beersheba (28:10) to Hebron. Jacob has successfully returned to his father’s house (28:15, 21).

28 Now the days of Isaac were 180 years.

Chronologically, Isaac lived twelve years beyond the sale of Joseph.

29 And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Jacob and Esau, like Isaac and Ishmael before them (25:9), come together to bury their father. Isaac is buried in the ancestral grave at Machpelah, with his wife Rebekah (49:29-32).

Bibliography

Last updated: October 24, 2009

English Translation (ESV)

¹Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land. ²And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her. ³And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. ⁴So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.”

⁵Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah. But his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. ⁶And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. ⁷The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing must not be done.

⁸But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. ⁹Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. ¹⁰You shall dwell with us, and the land shall be open to you. Dwell and trade in it, and get property in it.” ¹¹Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. ¹²Ask me for as great a bride price and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.”

¹³The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. ¹⁴They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. ¹⁵Only on this condition will we agree with you—that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised. ¹⁶Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people. ¹⁷But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.”

¹⁸Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem. ¹⁹And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his father’s house. ²⁰So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, ²¹“These men are at peace with us; let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters. ²²Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us to become one people—when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. ²³Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.” ²⁴And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

²⁵On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males. ²⁶They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and went away. ²⁷The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. ²⁸They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. ²⁹All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered.

³⁰Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” ³¹But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

Notes

1 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land.

Dinah was introduced in 30:21, but her parentage is repeated here to emphasize that Simeon and Levi were her full brothers (29:33-34; 34:25; 35:23) so as to explain their particularly violent reaction (vv 25-26, 31) to her rape. That she is the daughter of the unloved Leah may explain Jacob’s apparent lack of concern in verse 5.

2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her.

Shechem’s princely status allowed him to later successfully encourage the Hivites to undergo circumcision in order to make a treaty with Jacob’s clan.

This description of the offense committed by Shechem has been traditionally interpreted as the rape of Dinah. The absence of a technical term meaning “rape” (forced sexual relations) in biblical Hebrew has left open the question as to whether the description in Shechem’s case is rape or simply “sexual relations.” If in this latter case Shechem’s crime was not rape but his transgression of customary sexual behavior, his specific violation could be one of two possible breaches. First, his crime was the mere fact that as a foreigner (uncircumcised, v. 14) he engaged in sexual relations with an Israelite. Or second, he did not go through the proper procedure of betrothal, but having done so, he further offended Jacob’s household by failure to admit his crime and to provide proper compensation for the offense. The result was a shaming of the woman and the household of Jacob.

L. Bechtel interprets ‘nh in the broad sense of “humiliation,” that is, to shame a woman. The remedy was the treaty offered by Hamor (v. 9) that would restore honor by creating the possibility of family bonding through marriage. She relies on the usage of ‘nh in four passages (Deut 22:23-24, 25-27, 28-29 and 2 Sam 13:11-14), arguing that the verb pattern (‘nh follows skb) in Deut 22:23-24 and 22:28-29 compares most favorably with 34:2. In these two legal cases, there is no rape but a shaming of the woman because of improper sexual intercourse. When rape occurs in the remaining two passages, the description of the act includes the verb hazaq, “seized” (Deut 22:25-27; 2 Sam 13:11-14). In the case of Deut 22:25-27, where a virgin is raped in the countryside, there is no shame for her action, thus the absence of ‘nh in the description. In the Samuel passage, however, Tamar’s rape carries shame (‘nh, v. 14; here ‘nh precedes skb) because she had sexual relations with a family member, thus a “disgrace” (herpa) that Tamar must bear (v. 13). We agree that the examination of ‘nh clarifies that the term cannot be automatically equated with rape. Each passage’s context must give additional clues to determine the nature of the sex act. We know the term ‘nh can mean rape in the sense of abuse, as in the case of the old man’s virgin daughter and the Levite’s concubine (cf. “use,” Judg 19:24; “raped,” 20:5). Also we question that Deut 22:28-29 does not describe molestation, since the man “seizes” (tapas) the victim. The description in 34:2 has the equivalent idea of taking by force in the description “[Shechem] took [laqah] her” (cp. “sezied her,” NRSV, NAB, NJB).

A related issue is the significance of the construction wayyiskab otah, lit., “he lay [with] her” (v. 2), in which the verb skb takes the direct object marker ‘eth. This contrasts with skb followed by the prepositional phrase, skb ‘immah, “he lay with her” (e.g., Deut 22:23, 25, 28-29; cf. 19:32; 30:15). Neither construction can be said to function as a technical expression for permissible or unlawful sexual relations. The former construction may describe rape (e.g., 2 Sam 13:14), but not always, though it can be said that skb with the direct object ‘eth often bears an illicit connotation (e.g., 26:10; Lev 15:24; Num 5:13, 19). Moreover, the alternative expression skb ‘immah (“lay with her”) may describe a case of rape (Deut 22:25), and instances of skb followed by the preposition “with” (‘im) describe typical and atypical sexual relations (e.g., 19:32; 30:15). We conclude that Dinah was raped.

The two verbs ‘nh and skb describing Shechem’s action in 34:2 also depict (inverted order) Amnon’s rape of his half-sister, Tamar (2 Sam 13:14). The succinct report of Shechem’s assault, lit., “he saw . . . took . . . lay . . . humbled her,” contrasts to the prolonged dialogue between the parties prior to the rape in the Amnon-Tamar narrative. The rape of Dinah, though the act is powerfully portrayed in v. 2 by the preponderance of verbs, is prelude to the narrative’s main interest. What the narrative delves into is the outcome of the rape, detailing the discourse of the men, especially their negotiations and the deception fostered by Jacob’s sons. Nevertheless, the description of the attack effectively shows that Dinah was not a willing partner in the incident.¹

3 And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her.

The narrator stresses that Shechem did not merely lust after Dinah, but actually loved her. By speaking tenderly too her, he may have been trying to comfort her (Genesis 50:21; Ruth 2:13; Isaiah 40:2) or woo her (Hosea 2:14[16]).

4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.”

Parents commonly negotiated a marriage arrangement for their sons (Judges 14:2). That Dinah is called a “girl” (yalda) suggests she is young.

5 Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah. But his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came.

Jacob’s passivity throughout this passage is remarkable, especially considering his attachment to Joseph and Benjamin (37:34-35; 43:1-14).

6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him.

Note that Dinah is apparently still being held within Hamor’s house in the city (vv 17, 26).

7 The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing must not be done.

“Hebrew nevalah [an outrageous thing] is a powerful term describing offenses of such profound abhorrence that they threaten to tear apart the fabric of Israelite society. For society’s own self-protection, such atrocities can never be tolerated or left unpunished.”² The mention of “Israel” is an example of the brothers’ sense of ethnic distinction from the Hivites.

8-10 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. You shall dwell with us, and the land shall be open to you. Dwell and trade in it, and get property in it.”

Hamor hopes to convince Jacob’s family that his son truly desires Dinah to be his wife, presumably to mitigate the severity of the crime.

11-12 Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. Ask me for as great a bride price and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.”

Shechem’s readiness to pay beyond the normal bride price and gift is a tacit admission that he needs to make reparations for the rape of Dinah.

13 The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah.

The sons of Jacob, being few in number, have to use guile to liberate their sister (v 26). “An ironic twist in history is that the Hivite population at Gibeon employed deception against the Israelites to secure a peace arrangement (Josh 9:7-13; 11:19) but became subject to the Israelites (Josh 9:21-23; 24:11; 1 Kgs 9:20-21).”³

By characterizing their speech as deceptive, the author’s stand toward the sons of Jacob is certain. He condemns their tactics and their reaction. The repeated reference by the author to the assault explains their reaction but does not attempt to justify it. The author does not build sympathy for the brothers; rather for him their conduct exhibits the consequences of illicit contact with the Canaanites. If the author intends us to measure their action against the moral code of the law, it was a vile transgression of murder through deceit (cf. v. 5 above; see, e.g., Deut 22:28-29; Exod 22:16-17[15-16]).⁴

14-17 They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. Only on this condition will we agree with you—that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised. Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people. But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.”

Genesis 17:9-14 makes circumcision a condition for being admitted to the Israelite community. Obviously, in this passage, the brothers have no intention of intermarrying with the inhabitants of the city. There is irony in that the “part of the body used by Shechem in his violent passion will itself become the source of his own punishment!”⁵ “It is not clear whether Jacob’s sons expected Hamor and Shechem to accept their terms; they may well have expected them to balk at such uncomfortable conditions (cf. 1 Sam 18:25), which would have given them grounds for using force.”⁶

18 Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem.

Hamor was pleased to gain a business interest and Shechem was pleased to gain a wife.

19 And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his father’s house.

The phrase “did not delay to do the thing” may refer to the circumcision or to going to the city gate, but it seems unlikely that he would speak to the men of the city immediately after a circumcision. The men of the city were likely to respond to “the most honored” member of Hamor’s house.

20-23 So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, “These men are at peace with us; let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us to become one people—when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.”

A comparison of this speech with those in vv 9-12, 14-17 is revealing. In addressing their fellow townsmen, Hamor and Shechem adopt a quite different line from that taken in earlier negotiations. They say nothing about their own personal involvement in the matter, that Shechem wants to marry Dinah; rather they begin by insisting on the advantages of intermarriage for the whole town (v 21). Then they mention the need for circumcision (v 22), and finally they return to the economic advantages of intermarriage. Whereas they had promised to the Israelites that “they could acquire possessions in it” (v 10), they say nothing about that to their own people; instead they say “their flocks, their possessions, and all their herds, will they not be ours?” Hamor and Shechem also fail to mention the threat to seize Dinah with which Jacob’s sons ended their negotiations.

Now some of these changes could be construed as merely diplomatic, for Hamor had to emphasize the economic advantages for the Shechemites if they were ever to be persuaded of the value of circumcision. Nevertheless, failing to mention the land concession and claiming that the Israelite animals would theirs verges on deceit. They are either tricking their townsmen, or if they are being frank with them, they must have been dishonest in their negotiations with Jacob and his sons. Calvin comments with typical trenchancy, “[Hamor and Shechem] then enumerate other advantages; meanwhile, they cunningly conceal the private and real cause of their request. Whence it follows that all these pretexts are fallacious. But it is a very common disease, that men of rank who have great authority, while making all things subservient to their own private ends, feign themselves to be considerate for the common good, and pretend a desire for the public advantage” (2:224).

Certainly this disclosure of Hamor and Shechem’s double-dealing and the avarice of their fellow citizens tends to reduce our shock at the fate that is about to overtake them. Indeed, there is an element of dramatic irony in their words. They describe the Israelites as “peaceably disposed toward us” (v 21), little suspecting what they were planning. They ask, “Their flocks, their possessions . . . will they not be ours?” (v 23). But in a few days the situation will be reversed, with the Israelites plundering all their possessions (vv 28-29).⁷

24 And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

The phrase “all who went out of the gate of his city” probably refers to all the men of military age (Job 29:7; cf. 23:18). The fact that “every male” was circumcised explains how Simeon and Levi were able to kill all the males in the city.

25 On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males.

The third day after the circumcision is the day on which the pain from the operation would be the most intense. The fever that would develop as a result of the operation would only make the condition of the recently circumcised more intolerable. The men of Shechem would be least able to retaliate. In fact, retaliation would be ruled out. Accordingly, the sons of Jacob bide their time, and strike with a passion when counter-resistance is expected to be minimal.⁸

That the city “felt secure,” or was unsuspecting, further explains the success of the brothers. It is possible that Simeon and Levi had additional help that the narrator does not mention.

26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and went away.

Only now does the reader learn that Dinah had been in the house of Shechem the whole time.

27-29 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered.

The city is plundered but not destroyed. “This passage balances verse 23. Instead of the Hivites appropriating the possessions of the sons of Jacob, their possessions pass into the hands of their intended victims.”⁹

30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.”

Jacob’s outburst focuses on the fact that he may now be vulnerable to attack and not on the immorality of his sons’ behavior. However, in 49:5-7 he curses the violence and anger that characterized Simeon and Levi.

31 But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

The brothers respond by asking how Jacob, who is concerned with the reaction of the Canaanites, cannot be concerned about the public disgrace that the rape caused among their neighbors. In their eyes, Jacob has failed to protect the honor of their family.

Note how Simeon and Levi refer to Dinah as “our sister,” once again reminding us of the tensions within the family. They do not speak of her as “your daughter,” as would be appropriate in addressing Jacob. “They in effect wrest her out of the father’s guardianship: she may not be your daughter, but she certainly is ‘our sister’ and no one will treat her like a whore” (Sternberg, Poetics, 474-75). Indeed, their remark “Should he treat her like a prostitute?” could be referring not just to Shechem’s treatment of Dinah, but also to Jacob’s. It may have been said in private afterwards. To do nothing about the rape and then to be willing to accept gifts after the event like a pimp. These two readings of the brother’s reply are not mutually exclusive; it may well be that this last word is intended to be read as a condemnation of both Shechem and Jacob.¹⁰

Bibliography

Last updated: October 20, 2009

English Translation (ESV)

¹And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. ²And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. ³He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. ⁵And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. ⁷Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. ⁸Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.” ⁹But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” ¹⁰Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. ¹¹Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.

¹²Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of you.” ¹³But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. ¹⁴Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”

¹⁵So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” ¹⁶So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. ¹⁷But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

¹⁸And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. ¹⁹And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. ²⁰There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

Notes

2 And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all.

The concubine wives and their children are put at the front of the group and are thus more vulnerable. Rachel and Joseph, Jacob’s favorite wife and child (29:30; 37:3-4), are put in the safest position.

3 He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

According to the Amarna letters, bowing seven times was the proper act of respect of a vassal to his overlord.¹ The language echoes the blessing that Isaac gave to Jacob but meant for Esau: “Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. ” (27:29). But this action is not a reversal of that blessing, it is a sign of humility.

4 But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.

Esau’s murderous bitterness (27:41-42) is gone. It is not stated what caused this change in Esau.

5 And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”

Note that Jacob avoids using the potentially offensive word “blessed” when speaking of the children God gave him, which would have recalled the origin of the conflict between the brothers (ch. 27).

8 Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.”

Judging from Jacob’s response to Esau’s question, Esau was requesting further explanation for the herds that Jacob had sent ahead. That the messengers had already offered some explanation (32:4-5[5-6]) does not necessarily indicate the present verse is a variant tradition, as some believe. Esau probably was requesting clarification for the purpose of the herds since the number of animals was excessively generous. Or, since Jacob’s response did not differ from the earlier message, except by the deferential address “my lord” (cp. 32:6[7]), Esau may be initiating the customary show of refusal typical of negotiations.²

10-11 Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.

This rhetorical extravagance yields, perhaps intentionally, several possible meanings: encountering you, Esau, is like a pilgrimage to a shrine, which one does not make empty-handed; I have been admitted to your august presence; you have been graciously indulgent of me; my encounter with you is like that with a divine being.³

Jacob ties together his meeting with God in ch. 32 with his meeting with Esau in ch. 33 by just to see your face is like seeing God’s face. “Peni-el” (face of God”) has been followed by “Peni-esau” (face of Esau). Reconciliation with God is now capped off with reconciliation with a brother. For of vassal status (like Jacob) comparing a superior to a divine being cf. 1 Sam. 29:9; 2 Sam. 14:17, 20; 19:28 (Eng. 27). On a different level cf. Acts 6:15, “they saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.” Of course, Jacob is not saying that Esau has undergone a metamorphosis, or that he exudes a divine luminescence. The surprise of ch. 32 is that Jacob saw God, and yet his life was spared. The surprise in ch. 33 is that Jacob has seen Esau, and yet his life is spared. God’s mercy to Jacob is conveyed by the verb nasal (Gen. 32:31 [Eng. 30]); Esau’s mercy to Jacob is conveyed by the verb rasa (33:10).

Jacob is as insistent with Esau as he was with the man at Peniel. His “I will not let you go unless you bless me” now becomes, in effect, “I will not let you go unless you accept my gift.”⁴

Another telling remark made in Jacob’s argument is his choice of birkati (lit., “my blessing”) for describing this “present” (v. 11), which departs from the prevalent term minhati (“my gift”), occurring in v. 10 and in the prior narrative (32:13, 18, 20, 21[14, 19, 21, 22]). The word beraka may indicate generally a “gift” (e.g., Josh 15:19; 1 Sam 25:27; 2 Kgs 5:5) or a benefit (Isa 65:8). The suggestion my some commentators that Jacob by this allusion to Esau’s complaint (27:36) is returning the stolen “blessing,” in the sense of invalidating his father’s blessing, overstates Jacob’s intention. Neither is it a “slip of the tongue,” resulting from a guilty conscience. Structurally, minhati (v. 10) and birkati are parallel terms in this context, the latter nuancing the former as a gesture of goodwill. Jacob understood very well from his own losses to Laban (31:6-8, 31, 41-42) that Esau had suffered injury by his crime, desiring to make amends through this offering. The author indicates that the reason for acceptance of the gift was due to Jacob’s earnestness, “because Jacob insisted [wayyipsar],” not that Esau made a claim on Jacob’s possessions. The term rendered “insisted” (sapar) indicates passionate persuasion (19:3, 19; 2 Kgs 5:16), at one point even a fervent stubbornness or presumption likened to rebellion (1 Sam 15:23). Abraham’s displeasure at a stolen well illustrates the language of a complainant (23:25-26). We do not have claim and counterclaim here but congenial social conventions.⁵

16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.

Esau’s descendants would live outside of the promised land.

17 But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

As to why Jacob did not proceed to Seir is unstated in the text. It is a “gap” in the story that the author may want the reader to fill from the earlier struggle between Jacob and Laban. In the Jacob-Laban experience, the Lord specifically directed Jacob to leave Laban’s house and return to the land of his father (31:3, 13, 30a; 32:9[10]), and perhaps we are to assume that the Lord directed Jacob again to Canaan, the land promised him twenty years earlier (cf. 28:13-22). The text has been candid heretofore about deception and obfuscation by Jacob, and its silence here implies that Jacob’s action is not a violation of the peaceful intention agreed upon by the brothers. Later we learn at the instigation of Esau that the two brothers chose not to reside together because their cumulative wealth prohibited it (36:6-7; cf. Abraham and Lot, 13:6). That the exchange between the men is mere social convention is another possible explanation for Jacob’s action.⁶

18 And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city.

Jacob has safely returned to the promised land (28:21). There is debate over whether the ESV translation of “safely” is correct. Wenham believes the Hebrew literally says Jacob came “to Salem, the city of Shechem,” meaning Jacob came to the city of Salem where a man by the name of Shechem lived.⁷ The next verse as well as chapter 34 indicate that Shechem is a personal name in this context.

19 And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent.

Jacob’s objective is not stated. It can hardly have been for the purpose of building an altar, for none of the other patriarchal altars required purchase of the ground on which it stood. More likely, he intended settling there permanently, a plan thwarted by the development related in the next chapter. Like Abraham, he may have had in mind establishing a family burial ground. This suggestion is supported by Joshua 24:32, which records that Joseph was eventually buried on this plot.⁸

20 There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

In calling the altar “El, the God of Israel,” Jacob acknowledges that the creator God who had changed his name at the Yabbok to Israel was now his God, and by implication his descendants’ God too. He had vowed at Bethel that if the LORD brought him back to his father’s house in peace, “the LORD will be my God” (28:21). He has yet to reach Bethel, where he will fulfill the rest of the vow, but by naming this altar he is reaffirming his allegiance to El and declaring that El is Israel’s God.⁹

Bibliography

Last updated: October 19, 2009

English Translation (ESV)

¹Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. ²And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

³And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, ⁴instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. ⁵I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’”

⁶And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.” ⁷Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, ⁸thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.”

⁹And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ ¹⁰I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. ¹¹Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. ¹²But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”

¹³So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, ¹⁴two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.” ¹⁷He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’ ¹⁸then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’” ¹⁹He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, ²⁰and you shall say, ‘Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.” ²¹So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.

²²The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. ²⁴And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. ²⁵When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. ²⁶Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” ²⁷And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” ²⁹Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. ³⁰So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” ³¹The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. ³²Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.

Notes

1-2 Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

The description of the meeting of the angelic host points us back to Jacob’s dream theophany in 28:10-12: “went/set out” (halak), “met/reached” (paga), and “the angels of God” (mal’ake elohim). This latter expression appears only in 28:12 and 32:1[2] in the whole of the Old Testament. In Jacob’s departure from Canaan and in his return, the angels of God appeared to him, suggesting their accompaniment of the patriarch during the entirety of his travels. The absence of a verbal message from the angels in chap. 32 is another facet of the account that creates perplexity in the reader. At Bethel, too, the angels do not speak, but there the Lord delivers a message (28:12-13). In the first case Jacob “reached” (paga) the sacred “place” (maqom) of Bethel (28:11), but in the “place” (maqom) of Mahanaim the angels “met” (paga) the patriarch. It was they who were scouting the area for Jacob. Although outside the land of promise, he was not outside the hand of promise. Houtman observes that the word “camp” (mahaneh) indicates a temporary, mobile settlement versus the permanency of the “house of God” (bet elohim) at Bethel. He finds the “stairway” resting on the earth in the Bethel dream conveys the same sense of a mobile residence. Are the angels Jacob’s unseen traveling companions (cf. 24:7; 48:16)?¹

Mahanaim means “two camps.”² It is located east of the Jordan on the border between the territories of the half-tribe of Manasseh and the tribe of Gad (Joshua 13:26, 30). What two camps are in mind is unclear (Jacob and Laban?, Jacob and Esau?, Jacob and the angels?). It is noteworthy that Jacob subsequently divides his camp into two camps.

3-5 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’”

It is now presupposed that Esau had migrated east of the Jordan to Seir.

The three Hebrew words se’ir, sadeh, and ‘edom are deliberately used to evoke memories of the hostile relations with Esau, the one covered with hair (se’ar), a man of the outdoors (sadeh), of ruddy complexion (‘admoni), who came in from the field (sadeh) and begged for the red stuff (‘adom), and whose hairiness (sa’ir) played a crucial role in the deception that precipitated Jacob’s flight to Laban.³

Jacob tells the messengers to use conciliatory language (lord/servant) towards the possibly still angry Esau. He tells them to say he has been with Laban the whole twenty years and that is why he has not previously contacted Esau.

6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.”

Four hundred men may have been the standard size of a militia (1 Samuel 22:2; 25:13; 30:10, 17). This explains Jacob’s fear in verse 7.

7-8 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.”

A retreat was impossible with women, children, and flocks. The best he can hope for is to spare some of his camp.

9-12 And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”

This invocation combines features from 28:13-15 and 31:3. “The prayer ends with a recollection of divine promises still to be redeemed. The desperate appeal is thereby grounded in God’s steadfast fealty, not in the petitioner’s merit. At the moment of crisis it is a concern with posterity that is uppermost in Jacob’s mind.”⁴

13-15 So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.

The young animals and female animals were particularly valuable since they could be used to grow the herd.

22-23 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had.

Only the principal actors in the evolution of the nation are mentioned as Jacob is about to become Israel.

[The Jabbok] is one of the most important [rivers] east of the Jordan. Flowing through a deep ravine on a meandering course, it joins the Jordan River at right angles about 20 miles (32 km.) north of the Dead Sea. Before the construction of bridges, flat stepping-stones or timber would be laid across the shallowest and narrowest part to afford passage. To cross at night with a vast entourage is a difficult and dangerous operation, to be undertaken only by moonlight and only as a matter of great urgency. By moving from the northern to the southern side of the river, Jacob is placing himself all the more quickly in the path of Esau, who is advancing from Seir in the north. His tactic, apparently, is to reduce the interval between Esau’s encountering the gifts and his own arrival heralded by his messengers, each in turn. He can thereby better exploit the immediate psychological advantage gained form the mollifying effect of the tribute and at the same time enhance his claim actually to be on his way to meet his brother. He does not want to convey the impression that he is trying to avoid or delay a face-to-face meeting.⁵

24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.

In verses 28 and 30 the man is called a divine being (elohim). Hosea 12:4 identifies the man as an angel. The Hebrew word for “wrestled” is a play on both Jacob and Jabbok.⁶

25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.

Note that Jacob is ninety-seven years old at this point in the narrative. He can therefore hardly be considered a challenge to an angel in physical terms. Though there is no reason to doubt that a physical contest takes place, we cannot make the mistake of thinking that is the main point. When the text tells us that Jacob’s opponent cannot overcome him, it is not suggesting that Jacob is physically besting the man. The ease with which he inflicts physical damage on Jacob (32:25) indicates that any inability must be in the spiritual arena, not the physical one. If the wrestler is unable to overcome Jacob spiritually, it is because Jacob is not willing to yield. Only when the man threatens to go without offering assurances of God’s help does Jacob show his willingness to negotiate in the critical issues.⁷

The last element in the narrative to deal with is Jacob’s yarek (hip/thigh). The “hollow” of his yarek is “touched/struck” and as a result is “wrenched” (NIV) or, more likely, “torn” or even “ruptured.” Consequently he limps. Yarek is the same word translated “thigh” in Genesis 24:2, 9. In that context there is no mention of the “hollow” of the thigh; instead, Abraham’s servant places his hand “under” the thigh. Yarek usually refers to flesh or muscle rather than the pelvic bone. That which the Israelites do not eat (32:32) would also be meat (tendons/sinew, see Job 10:11; Ezek. 37:6; and Akkadian) rather than bone. This suggests the possibility that yarek refers to the groin area.

The word translated “hollow” (Heb. Kap) when associated with the hand or foot is usually translated palm or sole. But the fact that the kap can be cut off (Deut. 25:12; Judg. 8:15; 1 Sam. 5:4) indicates that the word refers to an entire hand or foot and generally refers to an appendage. Again, usage suggests that it is not the appendage of a bone but one of flesh. Finally, the word used in combination with the sinew to describe what the Israelites do not eat occurs only here and is indecipherable.

Whatever this part is, it is most logical that this is the part that is injured. While the “hollow/appendage of the thigh” describes the area, the “tendon of the X” specifically describes the damaged part that Israelites do not eat. It should be noted that Jacob’s injury does not necessarily create a permanent disability. The text says that in the morning he is limping – it does not say that he has a limp the rest of his life. It is therefore not a requirement that the terms we have been looking at be understood in a way that produces a debilitating injury that will not have healed over time.

What conclusions can we draw from all of this? If there were only the description of the injury, a blow to the groin area causing a rupture of the testicles would make the most sense of the language used here. But that does not fit with the description of what the Israelites do not eat. But if we are trying to figure everything out, we may a well ask why something that happens to Jacob dictates what part of an animal they can eat. Until more linguistic information comes to light that can further explain technical meanings of the terms used in these verses, the precise interpretation must remain obscure.⁸

26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

The divine assailant may want to leave before morning so that Jacob cannot see him in his entirety. That Jacob believes the man can render a blessing indicates he knows his identity to some degree.

Since this is God’s messenger, Jacob has his opportunity to obtain the blessing from God that had escaped him until now, for he had only received his father’s blessing and that was given unwittingly. The earlier narratives have implied that Jacob is already the recipient of the Lord’s blessing (30:27, 30; cf. 35:9; 48:3), but it is explicitly stated for the first time that God “blessed him” (v. 29 [30]). This experience provides Jacob (and his descendants) the confirmation of God’s blessing. The precise nature of this blessing is unstated. We may surmise that Jacob sought the power only God could provide him to overcome his enemies. The difficulty with this understanding, however, is that Jacob had already overpowered the “man,” leaving the impression that the blessing Jacob sought transcended the circumstances. He seeks from the Lord the assurance that his descendants will endure, creating the nation God had promised (28:13-14; 31:3, 13). That the blessing is or is related to the name “Israel” fits textually since the name presumes the nation that his sons will furnish.⁹

27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”

In disclosing his name Jacob is doing more than sharing information. He is making a confession about the appropriateness of his name. Only now would Jacob agree with Esau that Jacob is the perfect name for him (27:36). The acknowledgement of the old name, and its unfortunate suitability, paves the way for a new name.¹⁰

28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

The name Israel means “God struggles/fights.”¹¹ The men Jacob prevailed over include Esau and Laban. Walton believes that by yielding to God’s blessing Jacob prevails in a spiritual sense; by relying on God one no longer needs to struggle with God.

29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.

In Judges 13:17-18, the angel also refuses to give his name. The question, “Why is it that you ask my name,” seems to be a way of saying, “Don’t you realize who I am?” After the disappearance of the divine being, the protagonists in both stories realize the true identity of the visitor.

30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”

Peniel means “Face of God.”¹² It may be identified with Tulul adh-Dhahab, on the Jabbok a few miles from where it flows into the Jordan.¹³ Since it was night, Jacob’s statement about seeing God face to face is not meant literally, rather it means he had a direct, non-mediated encounter with God.¹⁴

When Jacob adds now my life has been preserved, he does not mean that he is happily surprised that he has seen God and is still alive. Jacob is not saying: “By all logical considerations, I should be dead by now.” It is true that God says that “a man shall not see me and live” (Exod. 33:20) (a concept that admits exceptions throughout the OT), but that is hardly Jacob’s concern. Such an interpretation misses the thrust of the double use of the root nsl in this chapter. Earlier Jacob had prayed “Preserve me [hassileni] from my brother” (v. 12). Now he says: my life has been preserved (wattinnasel). In other words, Jacob’s recognition that none other than God himself stands before him gives to Jacob the assurance that Esau shall not destroy him. Jacob’s earlier prayer for deliverance is now answered by God in this encounter. Jacob shall be “preserved” from Esau, for God has “preserved” him. In this verse Jacob moves, in his own words, from a proclamation of revelation (“I have seen God face-to-face”) to a statement of testimony (“and yet my life has been preserved”), that is, he shifts from awe to relief.¹⁵

31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

The sun rises after the assailant is gone, meaning it was not the sun that allowed Jacob to identify the assailant.

32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.

Jewish tradition identifies “the sinew of the thigh” with the sciatic nerve.¹⁶ “By refraining from eating this sinew, the Israelites were constantly reminded of Jacob’s meeting with God and the promise of ultimate victory and blessing he wrung from God then.”¹⁷

Bibliography

Last updated: October 14, 2009

English Translation (ESV)

¹Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.” ²And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before. ³Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”

⁴So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was ⁵and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. ⁶You know that I have served your father with all my strength, ⁷yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me. ⁸If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. ⁹Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. ¹⁰In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. ¹¹Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ ¹²And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. ¹³I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’” ¹⁴Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father’s house? ¹⁵Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has indeed devoured our money. ¹⁶All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”

¹⁷So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels. ¹⁸He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. ¹⁹Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household gods. ²⁰And Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee. ²¹He fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

²²When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, ²³he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

²⁵And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁶And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have tricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword? ²⁷Why did you flee secretly and trick me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? ²⁸And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly. ²⁹It is in my power to do you harm. But the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ ³⁰And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?” ³¹Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. ³²Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

³³So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s. ³⁴Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel’s saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them. ³⁵And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household gods.

³⁶Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? ³⁷For you have felt through all my goods; what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. ³⁸These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. ³⁹What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. From my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. ⁴⁰There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. ⁴¹These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. ⁴²If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.”

⁴³Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day for these my daughters or for their children whom they have borne? ⁴⁴Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I. And let it be a witness between you and me.” ⁴⁵So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. ⁴⁶And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. ⁴⁷Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. ⁴⁸Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he named it Galeed, ⁴⁹and Mizpah, for he said, “The LORD watch between you and me, when we are out of one another’s sight. ⁵⁰If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, God is witness between you and me.”

⁵¹Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me. ⁵²This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm. ⁵³The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac, ⁵⁴and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called his kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country.

⁵⁵Early in the morning Laban arose and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned home.

Notes

1 Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.”

The sons of Laban view the transfer of wealth as a bad thing while the daughters of Laban view it as a good thing (vv 14-16). Jacob acquired the wealth fairly (30:25-43). The sons lament the loss of much of their inheritance.

3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”

Laban’s change of heart (v 2) is contrasted with God’s consistent attitude toward Jacob (28:13-16).

4-5 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me.

The meeting is held in the field because it would make it more difficult for someone to eavesdrop on them. In his speech, Jacob contrasts Laban to God and makes it evident that God is on his side.

8 If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped.

The writer here presupposes the previous story. This makes it less likely that a different course of events is being described; rather, the same events are being viewed from two different perspectives. There, it was the author’s viewpoint; here, it is Jacob’s perhaps somewhat tendentious account designed to impress his wives that God is really with him. This is why he emphasizes that however Laban switched the agreement, fate minutely followed him: speckled and striped differ by only one letter in the Hebrew. No doubt there would have been times in the six years that Jacob was stock-breeding for Laban to change the agreement in the hope of doing better out of it. So it seems unlikely that the details here are incompatible with the version in 30:25-31:1.¹

9 Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.

The Hebrew literally says that God rescued the livestock. God has done them a favor by giving them to Jacob.²

12 And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.

This obscure vision shows that God was behind Jacob’s successful breeding techniques.

13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’”

Jacob is reminded of his vow at Bethel where he said that if God would protect him on his journey he would return to the promised land and worship God.

14-16 Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father’s house? Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has indeed devoured our money. All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”

The willingness of Leah and Rachel to leave is premised on an accusation against their father concerning his handling of their inheritance. As mentioned above, the bride price paid by the husband’s family was supposed to be held in trust in the event it was needed to provide for the wife if she were abandoned or widowed. Jacob, of course, gave no bride price but his labor, so the equivalent of his wages should have been set aside for the women. Apparently that was never done. Jacob’s labor has benefited Laban, not the women; thus, it is as if he has “sold” them to Jacob. If their father’s house holds no economic security for them, they have no reason to stay.³

18 He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac.

This cluster of phrases underscores Jacob’s claim to absolute and rightful ownership of all his possessions.

19 Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household gods.

Jacob was able to escape because Laban was shearing sheep, a very busy time for sheep farmers.⁴ It is unclear why Rachel stole the household gods (teraphim). If they were made of precious metal, she may have stolen them to make up for the inheritance she thought her father had deprived her of.⁵

21 He fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

Gilead stretched from its northern boundary of the Yarmuk River, lying alongside the eastern side of the Jordan valley, to the southern border of the Arnon River, an area approximating modern Jordan. The flow of the River Jabbok divides the region into northern and southern sectors, which was the momentous site of Jacob’s crossing (32:22). Mention of the “hill country” suits the topography of the region that was mountainous and lushly forested. Such challenging terrain for the migration of herds would have impeded his progress significantly but provided a good hideout.⁶

22-23 When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead.

Whenever the text refers to a journey of a particular number of days, the number is one, three, or seven. This suggests we are dealing with an idiomatic expression here. Gilead is over three hundred miles from Haran and therefore it would take more than ten days for Laban to overtake Jacob in Gilead.⁷

24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

This dream is similar to the dream of Abimelech in 20:3. As the later narrative shows, this dream does not prohibit Laban from speaking to Jacob, rather it prohibits him from harming Jacob (v 29).

26 And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have tricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword?

“What have you done” were the words spoken by Jacob the morning after his wedding (29:25). Laban’s daughters went willingly with Jacob (vv 14-16).

35 And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household gods.

Rachel says her menstrual cycle prevented her from standing. According to Leviticus 15:19-26, the household gods would have been defiled if they were sat on by a menstruating woman.

39 What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. From my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.

Under traditional ancient Near Eastern law, the shepherd was not responsible for losses caused by wild beasts and in some cases theft (Exodus 22:9-12).⁸

47 Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.

Both Jegar-sahadutha and Galeed mean “heap of witness.” Jegar-sahadutha is an Aramaic name (Galeed is Hebrew), presumably reflecting Laban’s mother tongue.⁹

48-50 Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he named it Galeed, and Mizpah, for he said, “The LORD watch between you and me, when we are out of one another’s sight. If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, God is witness between you and me.”

Mizpah means watchtower.¹⁰ Laban may have forbidden Jacob from marrying other women so that his daughters’ children would not have to share the inheritance with the offspring of other women.

51-54 Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me. This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac, and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called his kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country.

In accord with the typical pattern of treaty between peoples, Laban invoked the deity to observe their compliance to the stipulations of the covenant. Different interpretations of Laban’s invocation have implications for understanding the nature of Laban’s religion. The plural number verb in the clause “. . . judge (yispetu) between us” may indicate that the deities of Abraham and Nahor are different gods. The SP and LXX reflect the single verb (yispot), indicating that the deity is the same. The further expression, “the God [or gods] [elohe] of their father,” recalls the two parties’ common ancestor, Terah, who practiced polytheism (Josh 24:15, “the gods [elohim] you forefathers served beyond the River”). A plural interpretation, “the gods of their father,” is possible, referring to different deities (cf. “their ancestral deities,” NAB, NJPS). Since the phrase is absent in the LXX, some commentators and EVs (NJB, REB) consider the clause a gloss. That it suits, however, what we know of the author’s desire in this chapter to show the final severing of the two clans argues for accepting it as original. That Jacob swears by his own father’s God (“Fear of his father Isaac”) implies a difference in the deities of the families. Some EVs indicate Laban’s different religion by translating “the god of Nahor” (NJB, NAB, NJPS) or “the gods of Nahor” (HCSB), distinguishing his deity from the orthodox “God of Abraham.”¹¹

55 Early in the morning Laban arose and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned home.

God had faithfully returned Jacob to the promised land. Laban was able to kiss his daughters and grandchildren goodbye (v 28) and then the two peoples (Arameans and Hebrews) separated completely.

Bibliography

Last updated: October 11, 2009

English Translation (ESV)

²⁵As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. ²⁶Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.” ²⁷But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you. ²⁸Name your wages, and I will give it.” ²⁹Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me. ³⁰For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?” ³¹He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: ³²let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages. ³³So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.” ³⁴Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” ³⁵But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. ³⁶And he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flock.

³⁷Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. ³⁸He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, ³⁹the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. ⁴⁰And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban’s flock. ⁴¹Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks, ⁴²but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. ⁴³Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Notes

27-28 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you. Name your wages, and I will give it.”

There is a problem with translating nihasti as “I have learned by divination”:¹

Divination is a device by which one gains knowledge about the future, not about the past. Laban could have pinpointed Jacob as the cause of his blessing only through some such medium as a dream or a vision, neither of which is covered by nahas. The translation I have grown rich is obtained by taking nihasti as cognate with Akk. Nahasu, “to flourish, prosper.” To be blessed by Yahweh means to be enriched. Thus Laban is, to a degree, Deuteronomic in his theology; that is, he attributes his material prosperity to Jacob’s God. His statement is un-Deuteronomic in the sense that his prosperity, by his own admission, is not a divine reward for his own virtue but is due solely to the presence of Jacob in his home.

31-34 He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages. So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.” Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.”

The typical appearance of sheep and goats was the opposite coloration, namely, white sheep and dark-hued (black or brown) goats. Presumably, the animals designated by Jacob were fewer to begin with, and, moreover, he intended to remove these uncommon ones from the flock. Once these animals were removed, Jacob would have no animals designated for him to own since he was left with only the white sheep and dark goats. He could only count on any future births of black sheep and variegated goats. Laban must have reasoned that these births would indeed be scarce, since Jacob had only th e one-color animals for breeding.

Jacob’s proviso in v. 32 does not contradict his stated refusal to take anything from Laban (v. 31), for the nature of his wages in effect ensured that Jacob will begin without any venture capital. He names the categories of animals that he might obtain in the future as his wages, not the specific animals rounded up initially. By referring to his “wages,” therefore, he is speaking proleptically, assuming that he will gain a herd through breeding. This explains the reaction of Laban, who immediately removed the selected animals so as to prevent Jacob from claiming their offspring (vv. 35-36). Laban must have reasoned that the mating of the designated animals would result in a herd that Jacob could claim. Laban’s caution, however, only accomplished what Jacob himself had recommended, and Jacob accepts Laban’s actions without protest. What Laban did not anticipate was the success Jacob could achieve through selected crossbreeding.

In the future any animals that were found among Jacob’s personal herd that were not of the uncommon varieties must be considered stolen (v. 33). Jacob presumed that Laban would periodically inspect his flocks. By this openness, Jacob wanted to avert any unjust charges of fraud leveled against him. He anticipated trouble with Laban’s family, and he was not far from the mark (cf. 31:1-2, 29). With what Jacob knows of his own past, we conjecture that with tongue in cheek, Jacob swears on his honor that he will treat Laban fairly. “My honesty” translates the term sedaqa, which can mean “righteousness” and “vindication” (cf. 15:6; 18:19). The word group s-d-q often occurs in a judicial setting (2 Sam 15:4; cf. 44:16). In the present context the idea is Jacob’s compliance to an agreed behavior. The word “testify” (ana, “answer”) may also convey a forensic nature (e.g., Deut 19:18; Isa 59:12). The image lying behind Jacob’s remark is a hearing wherein Jacob’s integrity witnesses to his adherence to their bargain. Laban will not risk deception anyway, choosing to assort the animals himself (cp. v. 35).

Such an arrangement could hardly be refused (cp. kidbareka, “as you say,” 47:30), although Laban had no intention of fulfilling whatever agreement Jacob had proposed. He at once deviated from it by segregating the animals himself. Jacob could legitimately complain that Laban “changed my wages ten times” across the six years (31:41).²

35-36 But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. And he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flock.

Laban creates a buffer between the flocks to guarantee that no stragglers will roam into Jacob’s flock. Yet this distance also makes it impossible for Laban to observe, and possibly hinder, Jacob’s schemes.

37-40 Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban’s flock.

Jacob’s folk methods corresponded to Rachel and Leah’s use of mandrakes in their competition for children (30:14-16). Although the women believed that the mandrakes somehow conveyed potency, they also understood that ultimately pregnancy was the result of God’s gracious favor (e.g., 30:17-18, 22-23). It was their prayers, not the mandrakes, that resulted in the birth of children. Some commentators object that Jacob actually believed his tactics would work. He employed this elaborate plan as a hoax to distract Laban’s attention from the crossbreeding that he practiced. Yet the passage does not indicate that Jacob’s play involved “deceit” or “stealth,” which are descriptions commonly used when narrating deceitful actions (e.g., 27:35-36; 29:25; 31:20, 26-27; 34:13). Furthermore, it appears he attributes the idea to a divine revelation (31:10-13). Modern eugenics can explain technically how he succeeded by breeding animals that possessed the desired, recessive genes and further by selective breeding to multiply the stronger animals; but Jacob’s knowledge would have been dependent on learned experience as a seasoned herdsman, or possibly by divine instruction in his dream (31:10). Whatever the precise explanation for his success, the passage shows that Jacob relied on the visual aids, as did the women on the mandrakes, but ultimately credited God with the prosperity of his herds (31:10-13). The Lord tolerated Jacob’s imaginative devices and transcended them. God was pleased to bless despite whatever erroneous notions Jacob may have had about animal husbandry.

Verse 40 creates a special problem by the confusing mention of the “young of the flock” and “streaked and dark-colored animals” from Laban’s flocks. This does not appear to conform to Laban’s transfer of the streaked goats and dark-colored sheep to his sons’ safekeeping (vv. 35-36). The resolution is the recognition of two factors in v. 40. First, the verse pertains to the breeding of the young of the sheep (kesabim), wherein he modified his procedure to the goats described in vv. 37-39. Second, v. 40 names two groups of goats: variegated and black “animals” (i.e., goats, so’n). Thus, Westermann explains that Jacob isolated the young white sheep and set them facing the speckled goats (from Jacob’s own flock) and the dark goats (from Laban’s flock). The combination of speckled and dark goats approximated the alternating colors of the peeled branches employed for the goats. Thus, Jacob derived the dark sheep that he could claim. That the passage exhibits difficulties probably is the result of the fluid arrangements that occurred across the six years that Jacob cared for the herds.³

41-42 Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks, but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.

Verses 41-42 describe not a new breeding method different from that described in vv. 37-39. Rather, these two verses imply that Jacob applied the breeding method of vv. 37-39 selectively. The stronger animals are the heterozygotes. The feebler animals are the homozygotes. Jacob crossbred only the former. How he could distinguish one from the other is made clear in 31:12 – the heterozygotes are excessively potent and conceive earlier than the homozygotes. Jacob’s knowledge of zoology is far from primitive. But perhaps such knowledge has been given him by God, just as his son’s capacity to interpret dreams was a gift from God.⁴

43 Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Jacob is wealthy like Abraham (12:16; 13:2; 24:35) and Isaac (26:13). He could sell members of his flock for servants and other animals.

Bibliography

Conservapedia has a Conservative Bible Project page.  It alleges that translations of the Bible betray a liberal bias.  Starting with the King James Version as a basis, a conservative translation of the Bible is being worked on.

According to Conservapedia, a fully conservative translation of the Bible would follow their ten guidelines.

The first guideline is a framework against liberal bias that allows them to provide a translation without liberal bias.  I have no problem with a new translation.  My problem is that they are not interested in an unbiased translation.  They are only interested in a translation that does not have a liberal bias.

The second guideline is to avoid using unisex or gender inclusive language because it emasculates Christianity.  I agree that a translation should preserve the exact meaning of the original languages.  However, I hardly think gender inclusive language emasculates Christianity.

The third guideline is that the reading level should not be dumbed down.  They complain that the NIV is written at the 7th grade level.  The translator’s job is to convey the meaning of the original languages.  If he can do so accurately at a 7th grade level then it makes sense to do so because it will allow more people to read the Bible.

The fourth guideline is to use powerful conservative terms.  I would prefer accurate terms.

The fifth guideline is to combat addictions by using modern terms such as “gamble” instead of “cast lots.”  The problem is that casting lots is not necessarily gambling.  For example, when replacing Judas Iscariot, the apostles cast lots to pick the new member of the Twelve (Acts 1:26).

The sixth guideline is to accept the logic of hell and neither deny nor downplay the existence of hell or the devil.  But the translator’s job is not to provide a commentary on the nature of hell or the devil.  It is to use those words in the translation when they are appropriate.  It is up to the reader to interpret the Bible’s statements about hell and the devil.

The seventh guideline is to explain the numerous economic parables with their full free-market meaning.  Jesus’ parables often include characters who make economic transactions or handle wealth, but the message of these parables concerns religion, not economics.  However, I can’t help but think of the economic meaning of some of the parables.  Are employers to pay employees a full day’s wage even if they don’t work a full day (Matthew 20:1-15)?  Are we to cancel debts when they can’t be paid (Luke 7:36-47)?

The eighth guideline is to exclude later-inserted liberal passages such as the the story of the adulteress.  Of course most modern translations note that John 7:53-8:11 is not in the earliest manuscripts.  I’m also not sure how this is a liberal passage.  Do conservatives feel the adulteress should have been stoned to death?  Do they believe sin cannot be forgiven?  Another example they bring up is Luke 23:34, where Jesus says, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  This is probably an interpolation but Conservapedia forgot a similar statement by Stephen in Acts 7:60.  And it isn’t like Luke 23:34 is the only place where Jesus promotes forgiveness.

The ninth guideline is to credit the open-mindedness of the disciples.  I’m not sure how a translator, as opposed to a commentator, is supposed to do this.

The tenth guideline is to prefer conciseness over liberal wordiness.  I didn’t even know this was a problem, especially since much of the Bible’s narrative is concise.

Last updated: October 3, 2009

English Translation (ESV)

^29:31When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ³²And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” ³³She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. ³⁴Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. ³⁵And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.

^30:1When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” ²Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” ³Then she said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have children through her.” ⁴So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. ⁷Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.

⁹When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad. ¹²Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.

¹⁴In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁵But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁶When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. ¹⁷And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.

¹⁹And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun. ²¹Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.

²²Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. ²³She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” ²⁴And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the LORD add to me another son!”

Notes

29:31 When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.

In the Hebrew, the phrase “Leah was hated” means she was loved less than Rachel (v 30; Deuteronomy 21:15, 17). It need not mean that Jacob detested her.¹ Like Sarah (11:31) and Rebekah (25:21), Rachel was barren.

29:32 And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.”

Reuben means “see, a son.”² In the Hebrew, the phrases “the LORD has looked upon my affliction” and “my husband will love me” play on the consonants in the name Reuben.³

29:33 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon.

The name Simeon may derive from “to hear.” The phrase “I am hated” plays on the consonants in the name Simeon.⁴

29:34 Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.

The name Levi may mean “attached, joined.”⁵

29:35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.

Judah may mean “praise” or be taken in a verbal form, “He (God) shall be praised.”⁶ The text does not explicitly say why Leah ceased bearing children, but verses 14-16 suggest she and Jacob stopped having intercourse. There is no mention here of a hope of improved relations with Jacob.

30:1 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!”

Rachel’s request of Jacob recalls Jacob’s request of Laban in 29:21. But Jacob’s request for his wife was legitimate while Rachel’s is not. Ironically Rachel will die when she gives birth to her second child (35:16-19).

30:3 Then she said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have children through her.”

The Hebrew uses the phrase “she may give birth over my knees” to describe the servant giving birth on Rachel’s behalf. It is a picturesque way of saying the child will be adopted.⁷

30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.

The name Dan means “he has judged, vindicated.” The word “given” also plays on the name.⁸ The phrase “heard my voice” means Rachel had prayed about children and saw Dan’s birth as an answer to her prayers. However, it is not until verse 22 that the narrator says God listened to Rachel.

30:8 Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.

The phrase “mighty wrestlings” is taken from Hebrew which literally means “divine wrestlings/struggles.”⁹ It may mean that Rachel viewed her struggle with her sister as a struggle for God’s favor. The phrase may also merely indicate the exceptional nature of the struggle.

30:11 And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad.

Gad means “good luck, fortune.”¹⁰

30:13 And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.

Asher means “happy, blessed.”¹¹

30:14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

It is not certain that the Hebrew duda’im refers to mandrakes, but this has been the translation since the time of the LXX in the third century BC. The important point is that “mandrakes” were famous for arousing sexual desire (Song of Songs 7:13) and helping barren women conceive.¹² This is why the barren Rachel asks for some of the mandrakes.

30:15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”

“In some way left unexplained in the story, Rachel must have at least temporary control over the conjugal life of Jacob, for she permits a one-night rendezvous in exchange for some of Leah’s mandrakes.”¹³ “This one remark is an eye-opener. We are shown just how much Jacob is favoring Rachel over Leah, that she is prepared for just one night to give away her mandrakes. But it also shows how desperate Rachel is for children; though Bilhah has borne her children and she has adopted them giving them names that express her sense of triumph, she still really wants a child of her own.”¹⁴

30:17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.

God, not the mandrakes, is responsible for the conception.

30:18 Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.

Issachar means “May El (God) be gracious.” She sees Issachar’s birth as a reward for her giving Zilpah to Jacob.¹⁵

30:20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun.

The meaning of Zebulun is obscure but may mean “exalt/elevate.”¹⁶ The name plays on endowed/endowment.¹⁷

30:21 Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.

Dinah means “judgment, vindication.”¹⁸ She is one of the main actors in chapter 34.

30:22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.

God, not the mandrakes, opened Rachel’s womb.

30:23 She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.”

The name Joseph is a play on “taken away.”¹⁹

30:24 And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the LORD add to me another son!”

Joseph means “May God (El) add (another child).”²⁰ Later, Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin (35:16-19).

Bibliography

Last updated: September 29, 2009

English Translation (ESV)

¹Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. ²As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well’s mouth was large, ³and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well.

⁴Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, “We are from Haran.” ⁵He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.” ⁶He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!” ⁷He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go, pasture them.” ⁸But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

⁹While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. ¹¹Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. ¹²And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman, and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father.

¹³As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, ¹⁴and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.

¹⁵Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” ¹⁶Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. ¹⁸Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” ¹⁹Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” ²⁰So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.

²¹Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” ²²So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. ²³But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. ²⁴(Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) ²⁵And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” ²⁶Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. ²⁷Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” ²⁸Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. ²⁹(Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) ³⁰So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.

Notes

2-3 As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well’s mouth was large, and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well.

The large, heavy stone over the well prevented a single shepherd or a small group of shepherds from watering the sheep. This information, repeated in the dialogue with the shepherds (v 8), allows the reader to appreciate Jacob’s ability to single-handedly remove the stone (v 10). The mention of the stone also echoes the stone pillar Jacob set up at Bethel where God promised to protect the patriarch on his journey (28:18). The reader is reminded that God is present with Jacob as he promised.

7 He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go, pasture them.”

Jacob believes the shepherds are not working as hard or as long as they should be. He is essentially urging the shepherds to go back to work. Perhaps he is hoping to be alone with Rachel, though he has shown no immediate interest in her at this point.

10 Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.

Jacob’s success in finding Laban and Rachel as well as his super-human display of strength confirms for the reader that God is protecting Jacob (28:15, 20).

Whereas Rebekah cared for the animals of Abraham’s servant, confirming the divine guidance of the servant (24:19-20, 22), here the direction is reversed: the stranger sustains the thirsty flocks of Laban with inaccessible waters. This depiction foreshadows the role that Jacob plays in Laban’s household. He becomes of the omen of blessing that Laban strives to hold on to at all costs (e.g., 30:27-36).¹

13-14 As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.

“Laban’s kiss proved to be as incongruous with his treatment of Jacob as the patriarch’s own beguiling kiss of his father (27:27).”² “[W]e have a hint of what is to come when Laban comments that Jacob is his own flesh and blood (29:14). This is, of course, an innocent statement on Laban’s part, but the reader has already gotten a taste of Jacob’s nature, and in Laban we will encounter one ‘cut from the same cloth.’”³

15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?”

Laban’s question sounds concerned and friendly, but the very mention of “working” and “pay” introduces a jarring note. It sounds friendly to offer one’s destitute nephew wages, but should family relationships be reduced to commercial bargaining? The words “work, serve” and “pay” are key terms in the subsequent narrative (29:18, 20, 25, 27, 30; 30:26, 29; 31:6, 41; 30:16, 32, 33; 31:7, 41) and are laden with echoes of the exploitation Jacob suffered at Laban’s hands. But Laban is canny; he has learned Jacob’s motives for coming (29:13) and in the last few weeks has observed his attachment to Rachel, which he is willing to exploit by inviting Jacob to make an offer.⁴

17 Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.

Hamilton suggests:

The traditional rendering “Leah’s eyes were weak” (RSV, NIV; cf. NEB, JB) is in need of reexamination. The adjective rak means “weak” only in a few places, particularly Gen. 33:13 (“frail” children) and Deut. 20:8 (“softhearted, timid” paralleling “fearful,” yare). More often it describes something that is tender (flocks, Gen. 18:7), gentle (a king’s reign, 2 Sam. 3:39), soft (speech, Prov. 15:1; Job 40:27 [Eng. 41:3]), delicate (a woman, Deut. 28:56; Isa. 47:1), and young (an inexperienced lad, 1 Chr. 22:5; 29:1; 2 Chr. 13:7). In the last three references rak is paralleled with naar, “inexperienced, youthful.” Leah may be older, but her eyes are the beautiful eyes of a person who looks much younger.⁵

Matthews replies:

The tenor of the passage, however, contrasts Leah and Rachel, first their order of birth and perhaps here their charm. This suggests that the term has the negative nuance of feeble, impotent (e.g., Deut 20:8; 2 Sam 3:39), meaning “dull-eyed” (REB). If so, the irony is that though lackluster in her appearance, Leah is the fertile one of the sisters. Alternatively, R. Gradwohl contends that if a contrast were intended in the passage, it would be between Leah’s and Rachel’s eyes or between Rachel’s and Leah’s loveliness. But the author’s description of the women followed immediately by the narration of Jacob’s love for Rachel implies that her beauty captivated him, whereas Leah was not enticing (v. 18). Moreover, there is the same association of beautiful form (yapeh) and love in Amnon’s attraction to Tamar (2 Sam 13:1; cp. 1 Kgs 1:3-4, where the narration must clarify that the woman’s beauty in this case did not result in sexual relations). Also if the name “Leah” (le’a) invoked a sound play on the word “weary, impatient” (la’a), there may be a subtle play with her name, reminding one of her lifeless eyes (v. 17). The term la’a first occurs in 19:1, describing the blind Sodomites who “wearied (la’a) themselves groping for the door” (RSV).⁶

18 Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”

The agreement reached between Laban and Jacob is intended to provide for the bride price that was an essential part of marriage contracts. This was a payment made from the groom or his family to the family of the bride. Its function was to serve as a trust fund of sorts to provide for the support of the wife should the husband divorce her or die. In texts from Nuzi the typical bride price was thirty to forty shekels. Since a shepherd’s annual wage was ten shekels a year, Jacob is in effect paying a premium by working seven years, but he is in no position to negotiate. Theoretically, Laban will garner Jacob’s would-be wages and secure them into a bride-price account of some sort.⁷

19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.”

Marriage between relatives safeguarded the blood line, tribal property, and the daughter’s welfare. Laban may be speaking in an intentionally ambiguous way when he says he will give her (not Rachel explicitly) to Jacob.

22 So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast.

Laban does not give a verbal reply to Jacob’s demand.

23 But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her.

How was Laban able to pull of this deception? The obvious answer is that the bride was veiled (24:65) and it was dark. But one should not rule out the influence of alcoholic beverages served at the feast.

25 And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?”

Jacob’s masquerading as his brother meets its appropriate counterstroke in the substitution of Leah for her sister. But retributive justice is not the only motif. Just as Jacob’s succession to the birthright was divinely ordained, irrespective of human machinations (25:23), so Jacob’s intended marriage to Leah is seen as the working of Providence, for from this unplanned union issued Levi and Judah, whose offspring shared spiritual and temporal hegemony in Israel through the two great institutions of the biblical period, the priesthood and the Davidic monarchy.⁸

26 Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.

This is an instance of dramatic irony, as in a Greek drama. The contrasting term “our place” and the substitution of the terms used in verses 16 and 18 for “younger, older” by tseirah, bekhirah deftly evoke the Jacob-Esau rivalry, an underlying meaning that must have been perceived by Jacob and the audience but not comprehended by Laban, the speaker, who is not privy to the previous history. Jacob is stunned into silence and does not even reprove Laban for not having informed him about the local custom in the first place.⁹

However, Laban’s attempt to justify his action by local convention is weak. Why did he not make the point earlier, if this was his intention? Or why had he not found a husband for Leah during the seven years Jacob had worked for him? Was it because Leah was too ugly to attract a husband, or had Laban been planning all along to palm her off on Jacob? Either way, Jacob had good reason to be incensed by his father-in-law.¹⁰

27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.”

The “week of this one” refers to seven days of feasting in celebration of the marriage (Judges 14:12, 17; Tobit 11:18; Mish. Neg. 3:2).¹¹

28 Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.

It is an act of trust on Laban’s part to give Rachel to Jacob after the week-long feast and not after the additional seven years of service. It is a testament to Jacob’s character that he did not abscond with Rachel. Leviticus 18:18 prohibits a man from marrying a sister of his wife during her lifetime. The author felt no need to rewrite history to make it conform to a later age.

30 So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.

Jacob’s parents displayed favoritism towards their sons and now Jacob shows favoritism towards his wives. These seven years are not said to pass by like only a few days (v 20).

Bibliography

Last updated: September 27, 2009

English Translation (ESV)

¹Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. ²Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. ³God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. ⁴May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!” ⁵Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

⁶Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” ⁷and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, ⁹Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.

¹⁰Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. ¹¹And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. ¹²And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! ¹³And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. ¹⁴Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ¹⁵Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” ¹⁶Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” ¹⁷And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. ¹⁹He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. ²⁰Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, ²¹so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, ²²and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”

Notes

1 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women.

“By this act, Isaac confirms Jacob’s title to the birthright independently of the deception. Jacob is recognized to be the true heir to the Abrahamic covenant, which is why he must not marry outside of the family.”¹

8-9 So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.

“Esau’s response to this whole scenario is to try to gain approval by marrying girls from the family – in this case, Ishmael’s family. In so doing he only ends up identifying with the line that has been sent away, perhaps prefiguring to some degree his own eventual status.”²

12 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!

One cannot help but be struck by the parallel between the stairway in this dream, a stairway whose top reaches the sky, and the tower of Babel, whose top also extended into the heavens (11:4). But the similarity stops here. Unlike the Babel tower, Jacob’s stairway is not a product of human delusions of grandeur. It is a way by which God will make himself known to Jacob. Messengers, not pride, go up and down this structure.³

13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.

Jacob is confirmed as the third patriarch in the line of Abraham and Isaac.

14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

These promises are like the promises made to Abraham in 13:14-17.

17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

The site is called “the house of God” because God manifested his presence there. It is called “the gate of heaven” because the angels ascend to and descend from heaven at this place.

18 So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.

The stone serves as a witness to the dream and divine promises. The pouring of oil may have been a sign of the vow (31:13).

20-22 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”

Jacob is the only patriarch to make a vow to God. The tithe appears to be a one-time offering. It is not clear who would receive the tithe or what would be done with it. Normally a tithe would be given to a king or a priest. Walton suggests that “Jacob most likely anticipates that any wealth coming to him will be in the form of flocks and herds. In such a case the tithe will be represented in sacrifices at Bethel. Genesis 35 does not mention sacrifices being made, but Jacob does build an altar, thereby making it all the more likely that he fulfills this part of his vow by sacrifice.”⁴

Bibliography